Car-coupling



(No Model.)

S. J. MEEKER.

GAR GOUPLING.

No. 461.906. Patented 00t.27,1891

we Normes vn'rsne co.. vnofowm UNITED STATES STEPHEN J.

MEEKER, OF NEWARK, NE\V JERSEY,

PATENT OFFICE.

ASSIGNOR TO THE CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 461,906, dated October 27,1891.

Application tiled June 12, 1891. Serial No. 395,981. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

`Be it known that I, STEPHEN J. MEEKER, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Newark, countyof Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Oar-Couplers, of which the following description, taken in connection with the drawings herewith accompanying, is a speciiication. to My invention relates to car-couplers of that class known as the vertical-plane coupler; and it consists of certain improvements upon Letters Patent No. 416,187, granted to George IV. Smillie, December 3, 1889, the object of my present invention being to provide a simple and positive means for holding the pivoted hook or knuckle in an open or eX- `tended position to engage with the corresponding part of another coupler and prezo vent any liability of its being closed by the jolting or other movement of the car when being drilled or otherwise moved about until it engages with said corresponding part of another coupler and is automatically closed z5 thereby in a manner well understood by those skilled in the art. To this end I provide the rear arm of the pivoted hook or knuckle, and that upon which the coupling pin or device is supported and rides when 3o raised from engagement with the knuckle, with a rest or step located at a point below its upper surface and provided with an inclined surface on which the coupling-pin is adapted to drop and rest when the hook or knuckle is opened to its limit and adjust-v ably hold the latter open in a manner as will hereinafter be described in detail.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 represents a plan view of a coupler embodying my 4o invention with the upper part of the draw- 5o tion a2, the pivoted rotating hook or knuckle b, provided with the rearwardly-extending arm or projection b', adapted to engage with the said projection a2 in the draw-head, and the coupling-pin c, adapted to engage with the said hook or knuckle b to lock the same when closed and be supported on the said rearwardly extending arm b when raised from engagement with said hook or knuckle to allow the same to open, are'allconstructed and adapted to operate in the same manner 6o as the corresponding parts in the coupler illustrated and described 'in the above-mentioned Patent No. 416,187.

In the present instance and according to my invention I provide the rear end of the arm b of the hook or knuckle Z) with a step h2, located at a point below its upper surface and extending at an incline therefrom in the direction of its length, forming a rest on which the coupling-pin c is adapted to drop 7o and be supported when the hook or knuckle has been opened to its limit by the with-- drawal of the hookin the coupler of the connecting-car, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. The hook or knuckle 7 5 is held open in this position by means of the shoulder b3 (formed by the step h2) engaging the coupling-pin to prevent its being raised' by the jolting or other motion of the car uponthe upper surface of the arm b', and 8o thereby allow the hook or knuckle to close or partially close and incur the liability of its being broken or otherwise damaged by the contact ot the engaging coupler. To prevent any liability -of the coupling-pin being thus j arred from the step or rest b2 to the upper surface of the arm h', the surface of the said step or rest extends at an incline from said shoulder b3, as before described, in such man ner that the weight ot' the coupling-pin and 9o its usual connections upon said inclined surface tends to force the said arm, and thereby the knuckle, forward and open, as will be readily understood.

The upper edge of the shoulder b2 and the 95 lower end of the coupling-pin c are both rounded, as clearly shown in' Fig. 3, in order that the pin may ride over said shoulder when the hook or knuckle is engaged and closed by the corresponding part of an engaging roo in the art.

coupler when two cars are brought together, in a manner Well understood by those skilled Having thus set forth my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to securebyLetters Patent of the United States, is

l. In a car-coupler, the combination, with the draw-head, of a hook or knuckle hinged thereto and provided with a step or rest lo cated at or near the end of itsinnerztrm, having an inclined surface extending in the direction of its length to act in combi-nation with the couplingpin or device, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. 1n a car-coupler, the combination, with the draW-headof a hook or knuckle pivoted thereto provided with an arm having a step or rest located at point below its upper surface to form a shoulder at right angles, or nearly so, to its line of travel and engage With the coupling pin or device, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a car-coupler, the combination, With the draw-head, of a rotating knuckle hinged thereto provided With at rearwardly-extending arm or hook provided With an inclined surface at or near its end extending in the direction vof its length, lind 2t coupling pin or device, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

' STEPHEN J. MEEKER. Witnesses;

CEAS. F. DANE,

ANNIE L. HAYES. 

